Through Tibetan Eyes

 

Gregg Chadwick

Through Tibetan Eyes

72"x96" oil on linen 2006-2024

"In old Arabic poetry love, song, blood and travel appear as four basic desires of the human heart and the only effective means against our fear of death. Thus travel is elevated to the dignity of the elementary needs of humankind." - Czeslaw Milosz on the poetry of travel

Movement, travel and pilgrimage are themes that often appear in my paintings. Travel can involve a physical relocation or it can exist in the realm of the senses. In 2006 I attended "A Gathering of Hearts Illuminating Compassion," an interfaith meeting in San Francisco. The Dalai Lama was the keynote speaker at the event. He entered the packed hall, briskly moved up the center aisle, but stopped briefly to greet an elderly Tibetan woman a few feet from where I was seated. Then the Dalai Lama suddenly spun around and, with a beatific smile, gazed deeply and directly into my eyes.

I was transfixed. The moment was short, but to me it felt as if all time collapsed within that point. For that moment, it seemed as if the Dalai Lama yearned to see with my eyes as I, in turn, learned to see through his. I have been working on this painting ever since to put my experience of that moment of empathy and connection down on canvas.

The Painter of the World

Gregg Chadwick

The Painter of the World ( Seol-min) 

12"x9"oil on panel 2021

At the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco a few years ago, I watched the Korean Buddhist Nun artist Seol-min paint a gorgeous artwork of the Water Moon Avalokiteshvara, also known as Guanyin. Her canvas was laid flat on the floor and she painted on top of it as if she was bodysurfing a gentle wave with brushes in hand. The large hall where Seol-min painted was quiet. The gentle sound of her brushes created a kind of music that echoed off the marble walls. My oil on panel painting "The Painter of the World" is my latest artwork inspired by this experience with the artist Seol-min.

The Asian Art Museum has created a video of Seol-min at the museum. I am in the background, off camera, watching the events.
Video Below. Link at: https://education.asianart.org/resources/korean-buddhist-art/

Featured at Saatchi Art's The Other Art Fair Los Angeles at Barker Hangar from September 23-26, 2021.

Thanks again to everyone who enjoyed my paintings at @theotherartfair Many of the paintings are available for purchase on my @saatchiart page. Link at: https://www.saatchiart.com/greggchadwick

#theotherartfair #theotherartfairla #art #artshow #la #losangeles #laartshow #laart #collectart #artcollector #artfair #santamonica #buddhism #buddha #saffron #light #SanFrancisco #AsianArtMuseum #CityOfLove #Korea #KoreanArt

 

The Saffron Road

Gregg Chadwick

Monk Station

30”x30” oil on linen 2020

For 20 years, I have painted artworks inspired by the aspirational nature of Buddhism.

"Gregg Chadwick paints scenes from the life of Asia that reminds us of the monastic life of pilgrimage which has been all but lost in the West."

-Ratnagarbha and Thomas Jones

from "Urthona: Journal of Buddhism and the Arts" Issue 20

Many of my new paintings in 2020 continue this theme. 

More art at The Saffron Road

Please join me for the fifth edition in Santa Monica, California hosted at the historic Barker Hangar presented by the world's leading online art gallery Saatchi Art. The Other Art Fair showcases work by over 100 artists artists, each hand picked by a selection committee of art world experts. Please click here for free tickets and more info.

        The Other Art Fair Los Angeles
        April 16-19, 2020, at Barker Hangar,

        3021 Airport Ave., Santa Monica, CA 90405 

Gregg Chadwick

The Eightfold Path

30”x24” oil on linen 2020

Happy Thanksgiving!

Gregg Chadwick
Autumn Monk
33"x20" monotype on paper 2017

Seeing Deeply With Art Writer Peter Clothier at Gregg Chadwick's Studio on Thursday, May 24, 2012

Dear Friends,

I am honored to invite you to register for the next One Hour/One Painting Art Meditation Session which will be led by the distinguished art writer Peter Clothier at 6:30pm on May 24th, 2012 in my studio at the Santa Monica Airport. 

Peter has recently hosted One Hour/ One Painting sessions at the Diebenkorn: The Ocean Park Series exhibit at the Orange County Museum of Art and at the LA Louver Gallery. When describing Peter Clothier's sessions, I am often asked what to expect. In short, Peter will guide a small group of people through an exercise in 'concentrated looking' over the course of one hour's time. He will do this by taking us, as individuals in a group, on a visual and contemplative tour of my large, six by eight foot, painting A Balance of Shadows. We will experience color, shape, space and image in a concentrated yet calm and meditative manner using our eyes and minds. 

I see this as an 'exercise in learning how to see' or 'how to see more deeply' rather than an exercise in the making of an art piece. To clarify, we will not be making a painting of our own during this session. 

While I will be at the session, I am not leading this event. It is being organized and led by Peter; there is a $25 charge per person payable to Peter Clothier by check or credit card at the event but please reserve a space with Emily  (emilypersist86@gmail.com). I am honored that Peter has chosen to hold his event in my studio (but I do not receive any of the fees.)

 Please see the flier below for further details on the piece we will be viewing, location, time, and how to register.  If you have any questions feel free to contact me via email or my cell 

415 533 1165, Peter's assistant Emily at emilypersist86@gmail.com, or Peter Clothier at peterclothier@mac.com. 

This session will be discreetly videotaped for possible inclusion on the website of the Buddhist Journal, Tricycle. More on Tricycle at: http://www.tricycle.com/

I hope to see you at my studio on May 24, 2012.

Gregg

Peter Clothier's Bio:

Peter Clothier has a long and distinguished career as an an internationally-known art writer, novelist and poet. Peter avoids the jargon that obscures much current writing about art by using readily understood language that illuminates rather than obfuscates. Clothier seeks to achieve a harmony of mind, heart, and body in his work, and looks for this quality in the artists he writes about. His work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Artscene, ARTNews and other publications. Peter writes a daily weblog,The Buddha Diaries, and is a contributing blogger to The Huffington Post. He also hosts a monthly podcast entitled "The Art of Outrage," on ArtScene Visual Radio."
Peter Clothier's latest books are Persist and Mind Work.

                                    

Live Video of the Dalai Lama at San Diego State

Watch live streaming video from hhdl at livestream.com

Live Video of the Dalai Lama at San Diego State
Compassion Without Borders

 **APRIL 19TH, 9:30-11:30am, San Diego State University. --Upholding Universal Ethics & Compassion in Challenging Times.-- To access the webstream, please visit <http://sdsu.edu/> on the day and time of this event.

**APRIL 19TH, 1:30-3:30pm, University of San Diego. --Cultivating Peace & Justice.-- H.H. Dalai Lama s talk will be streamed online at <http://www.sandiego.edu/dalailama/media/> at 1:30pm on April 19th.

Peter Clothier's Inspiring New Book: Mind Work

by Gregg Chadwick

Peter Clothier's Mind Work explores the history and spiritual dimensions of his inspiring life. Clothier is known for insightful writing on the arts and artists which adds luminosity to the events depicted in Mind Work. The volume delves deeply into a life well lived and inspires us to consider our own lives in a spirit of humility and acceptance. 

The book is  structured into a series of essays that reflect an admiration for Montaigne's writings. In this spirit, each chapter of Mind Work dwells upon a singular idea and illuminates this idea with episodes drawn from Clothier's experiences. 

Mind Work deftly weaves Peter's family history into essays rich with metaphysical questioning. Looming behind much of Clothier's life is the recurring struggle to both live up to his father's dreams for him and to overcome them. In one pivotal chapter, Clothier and his wife Ellie encounter, for the first time, Michelangelo's sculpture of Moses in the Church of St. Peter in Chains in Rome. Clues to Peter's past, present and future are found in that moment. As I read that passage, I pictured all the Peter Clothiers depicted in the book - from the just named infant, to the wounded boy, to the young man on the train to Spain, to the adolescent bloodied in a German car crash, to the young father unsure of life and family, to the art writer, to the academic, to the inspirational man that Peter is today. 

The Buddhist practice of meditation plays a vital role in Peter's life. Discussions of Buddhism provide an interconnecting thread throughout Mind Work. In essence, life for Peter can be seen as a series of actions and then the result of these actions. Peter's mantra, "This is not me. This is not mine. This is not who I am.", guides us through Mind Work and reminds us of the inspired discipline found in his spiritual struggles and triumphs. 

Peter Clothier's Mind Work  honestly grapples with one man's life and expands the viewpoint to help us consider the human condition. The writing in Mind Work  is cinematic and brings us face to face with the rich life and the fertile mind of Peter Clothier. 

Highly recommended.

Peter Clothier Reads by Torchlight at the Standard Hotel, Hollywood
photo by Gregg Chadwick


More at:
Parami Press: Mind Work by Peter Clothier
Peter Clothier's Always Engaging Blog: The Buddha Diaries

Soseki's Light

Buddha of the Setting Sun (Amida)
Gregg Chadwick
40"x32" oil on linen 2010
Private Collection Marina del Rey

One in an ongoing series of artworks inspired by the life and poetry of
the Japanese Zen monk, poet, scholar and garden designer Muso Soseki. I am indebted to the American poet W.S. Merwin for his masterful versions from the Japanese translations and for his kind words of inspiration to me at the Hammer Museum.

Temple of Eternal Light
by Muso Soseki
(1275 - 1351)

English version by
W. S. Merwin
Original Language
Japanese

Buddhist : Zen / Chan
14th Century

The mountain range
the stones in the water
all are strange and rare
The beautiful landscape
as we know
belongs to those who are like it
The upper worlds
the lower worlds
originally are one thing
There is not a bit of dust
there is only this still and full
perfect enlightenment


Portrait of Zen priest, poet and garden designer Musō Soseki

Invitation to My Opening February 18, 2010 at the LOOK Gallery in Los Angeles

Gregg Chadwick
The Crossing
72"x36" oil, monotype and collage on Japanese Torinoko paper 2010

The morning of my last day on a trip to Thailand, was particularly luminous. I got up especially early and wandered through the alleys of Chiang Mai, following some monks on their serene morning pilgrimage. The light was almost incandescent and the blur of movement seemed to create paintings for me. I just needed to pay attention. To really see. I spent the time on the short flight to Bangkok watching a kind of film playing in my mind of saffron robes scintillating in the morning mist. Later, as I waited for my connecting flight to San Francisco, I caught sight of a different clip on a television monitor as the second plane crashed into the World Trade Center. It was September 11, 2001. I felt the horror of the crowd as we watched in disbelief. I longed for home and my son. Weeks later when finally back in my studio, the juxtaposition of the monks’ serenity in Thailand that day and the traumatic explosions on the other side of the globe, stayed with me. The saffron robed monks in my work are direct echoes of that experience and that day. For me, these monks are spiritual pilgrims that lead us away from the destruction and waste of violence, racism, and hatred. I began painting them, giving space to their calm. The resulting paintings led to a series, and some recent large works-on-paper on this theme are featured in the LOOK Gallery's upcoming exhibition 100 for 1000.
(February 18 to March 31, 2010)

More Images at: Gregg Chadwick at LOOK Gallery
More info at: LOOK Gallery

100 for 1000 opens at the LOOK Gallery in Los Angeles on Thursday, February 18th, 2010. The exhibit runs from February 18th until March 31st. A main gallery wall provides a contemplative space for my recent large works on paper and I will have a large number of 30"x22" monotypes on display as well.

Artists include:
Ann Arden, Sally Peterson, Gregg Chadwick, Eric Poppleton, Cathy Charles, Jeff Robinson, Ghislaine Fenmore, Ronald Santos, Jerri Levi, Bruna Stude, Mike Lohr, Artie Twitchell, Ramon Lopez, Kent Twitchell, Stephanie Mercado, Mike Vegas, Chris Naylor, Adam Wolpert and Walt Peregoy


LOOK Gallery
1933 S. Broadway, Suite 111
Los Angeles, CA 90007
RSVP at (213)748-1113
OPENING RECEPTION FEBRUARY 18 6-9PM

Map It: Directions to the LOOK Gallery

Watching the Beijing Olympics, Thinking of Tibet

As the Beijing Olympics nears its finale, I can't help but think about the conflict between the Olympic ideal and the Chinese state sponsored attempts to make China appear good and powerful at all costs. It seems that at least one of the star Chinese gymnasts has not yet reached the needed Olympic competition age of sixteen and has submitted a state-forged passport with an inaccurate date of birth to the International Olympic Committee. And most of all, the question of Tibet hangs over Beijing like the smog that chokes the athletes lungs. It appears that the Chinese government has blocked the Apple i-tunes site for the past week to keep the Chinese people from hearing and purchasing the benefit album Songs for Tibet. It seems that many of the athletes from around the world had downloaded the album in the Olympic village and were listening to what has become a top rated i-tunes download around the world. The album is a benefit for the Art of Peace Foundation.


Gregg Chadwick
Through Tibetan Eyes
72"x96" oil on linen 2008

Before the current Olympics began there were signs of hope that the question of Tibet would be approached peacefully and intelligently by the senior Chinese leadership. Nicholas D. Kristof wrote in his New York Times opinion piece,
An Olive Branch From the Dalai Lama:

"The senior Chinese leadership should respond by expressing serious interest in talks at the presidential or prime ministerial level. In ancient days, the Olympics were a time to suspend conflict. In that spirit, the two sides should get to work to prepare for a visit by the Dalai Lama in November, followed by top-level negotiations aimed at a historic resolution of the Tibet question. The ball is in the Chinese court."


Tibet The Story Of A Tragedy




More at:
Art of Peace Foundation.
An Olive Branch From the Dalai Lama
Team Darfur